Yuri Catania - Sagittarius

was born in Milan in 1975 and, after studying Industrial Design at the Politecnico di Milano, began his career as a professional photographer and director in the fashion industry in 2005. He has worked for prestigious magazines such as "Vogue," "Numéro," "Harper's Bazaar," "Love Magazine," "Elle," "MarieClaire," "GQ," "Flair," and many others.

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In 2007, he won the Italian Photography Award, followed by other prestigious recognitions, including the "Cavallo di Leonardo" for Best Direction at the MIFF AWARDS in 2014 and an Honorable Mention for the work "American Flag" from Art Cologne in Germany.

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In 2006, he founded a leading creative communication agency in the fashion industry based in Milan and, in 2012, opened a studio in New York.

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A significant turning point in his career came in 2013 when curator René-Julien Praz invited him to exhibit in the collective Art Is Hope at the Palais de Tokyo and the Perrotin Gallery in Paris. Subsequently, his photographic works were exhibited in New York, Milan, Venice, Cologne, Basel, and Zurich.

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Since 2018, he has embarked on an artistic path where his photography extends beyond exhibition halls into urban and architectural public or private spaces through large-scale installations using sustainable materials like paper and glue. He engages the local population in his creations, building bridges between physical and digital art with augmented reality.

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Among his most notable projects is the 2015 exhibition No Fashion Places, displayed in Milan, Venice, Paris, Tokyo, and Zurich, and his first photography book, where the artist explores an inner journey to find traces of humanity in abandoned spaces, revealing authentic beauty far from the glitter of luxury.

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Since 2013, Catania has lived and worked in Ticino, Switzerland, where he established his creative atelier in Rovio Val Mara. This move allowed him to leave behind the urban environment of Milan and embrace a new lifestyle. His workdays are now immersed in nature, set in a unique landscape at the foothills of Monte Generoso, surrounded by flowers, trees, and the local wildlife.

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He created "I Gatti di Rovio," the largest paste-up exhibition in Italian Switzerland, with over 120 photographic installations throughout the town, making it the largest open-air exhibition by a single artist.

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In 2023, he headlined "Moonlit Garden" at the Erarta Museum in Saint Petersburg, a solo exhibition curated by Olga Daniele featuring fifty works from the Black Flowers Secret Garden series. These nocturnal flowers of Rovio symbolize beauty as a tool for rebirth through dreams and hope.

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He also created the participatory work "Lvgaxy Astro Flowers" on the façade of the Palazzo dei Congressi in Lugano. Extending for 40 meters, the installation engages in a dialogue between the nature of Parco Ciani, technology, and the representation of astronaut Claude Niccolier, reaching a height of 8 meters. This work creates a hopeful intersection between science exploring planets devoid of nature and the beauty of flowers, emphasizing the importance of biodiversity on Earth.

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In the same year, he created "IMperfect," a 120-meter-long street art piece in a public space in Milan, on Via Ventimiglia, to support breast cancer research, in collaboration with and in support of the IEO-MONZINO Foundation.

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In 2024, Catania focused on bringing his ephemeral art to the entire Borgo of Ascona and exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in Ascona. During this time, he experimented with new artistic languages, particularly painting over post-photography, blending technology and nature, with the astronaut as the central figure in his visual narrative.

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His works are part of the collections of Banca Stato, Migros Zurich, City of Lugano, Municipality of Ascona, as well as numerous private collectors.

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'ART WILL SAVE THE WORLD" his motto.

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